Over the weekend, the Georgetown field hockey team (2-0, 0-0 Big East) hit the ground running with two victories in its season openers. The Hoyas secured a close 2-1 win against Davidson College (0-2, 0-0 Atlantic 10), with a game-winning goal in the 69th minute. Georgetown finished its opening weekend with an 8-0 win two days later against Appalachian State (1-1, 0-0 Mid-American) on Aug. 27.
Because Georgetown field hockey lost six seniors last year, this opening weekend provided an opportunity to incorporate seven new freshmen and a sophomore transfer, midfielder Emily Fraser. Fraser transferred from SUNY-Albany, where she started all 20 games for the Great Danes. Freshman midfielder Cami Osborne seized this chance and was named the Big East Rookie of the Week after scoring the tying goal against Davidson and netting two more versus Appalachian State.
“We’re really excited about our incoming class,” Head Coach Shannon Soares said. “Not only are they very talented when it comes to being field hockey players, but they’re also really good human beings, and that piece of it is just as important for us in terms of our program’s culture.”
Defense ruled the day early versus Davidson, with both sides’ goals coming in the final 20 minutes of play. With 17:04 remaining in the game, senior midfielder Hannah Fisher scored for the Davidson Wildcats off of a penalty corner.
After taking only six shots in the first period, Georgetown responded twofold with 12 shots in the second period. With 4:25 remaining in the game, Osborne and freshmn midfielder Jax Van der Veen broke through the Wildcat defense. Van der Veen slid the ball to Osborne, who tied up the game. Van der Veen took seven shots, four of which were on goal.
The Hoyas continued to pressure the Wildcats, leading to their game-winning goal in the 69th minute. Senior midfielder Joanna Hawkins took a penalty corner, and junior midfielder Helena Masiello passed the ball to senior midfielder Megan Parsons. Parsons capitalized on the opportunity, scoring the game-winning goal with 54 seconds remaining.
“I thought our team did a great job of being resilient on Friday,” Coach Soares said. “For us to be able to come back from that deficit and not just be settled with a tie and go into overtime, but really have the resolve to finish late in the second half was a really positive sign for our group.”
Georgetown’s offensive momentum carried them to an 8-0 win against Appalachian State. When the teams met in the 2016-2017 season, the Hoyas won 4-3 in overtime.
The Hoyas’ first goal came 9:45 into the game. The Blue and Gray took advantage of freshman midfielder Anna Farley’s penalty corner to create a goal-scoring opportunity for Fraser. Junior back Katie Maransky and Farley assisted in Fraser’s first career goal as a Hoya. Georgetown went on to score two more goals by the 10:43 minute mark.
Though Georgetown had 15 shots and Appalachian State had 12, the Hoyas capitalized on their opportunities. Six of the Hoyas’ eight goals were in the first period.
Offensively, Georgetown ensured the entire team was involved. Seven different Hoyas scored, three of whom were freshmen; Osborne scored two goals.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that they’re making an impact really early,” Coach Soares said. “Now the key will be for those guys to get a little bit better each day as well, and for all of us to rise to the occasion in terms of the next couple of months ahead of us.”
The Hoyas also took advantage of penalty corners. Though Georgetown only managed four penalty corners, they scored two goals.
“Penalty corners are a great advantage when you earn them, and we certainly look to earn fouls in our attacking circle every time we can. Those are opportunities where we want to be able to finish and put the ball in the back of the net,” Coach Soares said.
Hoping to continue the winning streak, Georgetown will play its third game of the season Friday, Sept. 1 at 2 p.m. against Rider (1-0, 0-0 Metro Atlantic) at Cooper Field. The Hoyas will begin conference play with a game against Quinnipiac (0-2, 0-0 Big East) Sept. 15 at home.
